Controversial choice … Dakota Johnson and Armie Hammer in Wounds

Directors' Fortnight risks Cannes festival rupture by choosing Netflix film

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Selection of Babak Anvari drama for parallel programme follows official festival’s exclusion of films distributed by streaming giant

The long-running row between the Cannes film festival and Netflix has taken an unexpected turn as the Directors’ Fortnight, one of the key strands of the festival that runs in parallel to the official selection, has selected a Netflix film for its lineup. This is in marked contrast to the official festival, which has maintained its exclusion of films distributed by the streaming giant for the second year in a row.

The Directors’ Fortnight’s 23-film programme, announced on Tuesday, includes Wounds by the British-Iranian director Babak Anvari, who won widespread plaudits in 2016 for his Tehran-set horror film Under the Shadow. Based on The Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud, Wounds premiered at the Sundance film festival and stars Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson. The Guardian gave it a two-star review in January, calling it “ramshackle”, “stilted and awkward”.

Although running simultaneously with the official film festival, whose selection this year includes films by heavyweights such as Terrence Malick and Ken Loach, the Directors’ Fortnight has been run independently by the French Directors Guild since 1969, and has its own selection policy. It is non-competitive (though its films are eligible for the first-time director prize, the Camera d’Or) and has shown such landmark films as Mean Streets, In the Realm of the Senses and Control.

Quick Guide

Cannes 2019

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When and where is it?

The festival takes place in the French resort town of Cannes in the late spring, normally in mid-May - this year it's 14-25 May.

What are the big films?

Twenty-one films have been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, A Hidden Life by Terrence Malick, and Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You. There are also a number of special screenings, including Asif Kapadia's Diego Maradona documentary, Elton John biopic Rocketman, and Gael García Bernal's directorial debut Chicuarotes. There are two parallel festivals, the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week, each with their own line-up.

What about all the paparazzi?

Cannes isn't just about the art of film. Every night sees a large-scale premiere with a walk up the famous red-carpeted steps outside the giant Lumière cinema. (That's why the festival likes selecting films with big-name Hollywood actors.) Cannes also finds lots of excuses to bring in major stars: for example, 1982's Rambo: First Blood is getting a screening, meaning Sylvester Stallone will pitch up on the Riviera.

The official festival took the decision to deny Netflix films slots in its competitive sections after protests from French distributors when it became clear that Netflix would not respect traditional distribution windows, which in the past meant that films had to wait 36 months in France before reaching online platforms. After having its films Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories in competition in 2017, Netflix declined to take up non-competitive slots the following year, with its chief content officer saying: “We want our films to be on fair ground with every other film-maker.”

Martin Scorsese’s mob film The Irishman and Steven Soderbergh’s investigative Panama Papers drama The Laundromat looked to be in contention for the 2019 edition, but any potential controversy over their non-appearance dissipated after it appeared they would not be finished in time.

The Directors’ Fortnight has also picked First Love, from Japanese exploitation legend Takashi Miike, Robert Eggers’ horror The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, and Zombi Child from Nocturama director Bernard Bonello. Four female directors are included – the same number as the official competition – including Grand Central director Rebecca Zlotowski and Afghan film-maker Shahrbanoo Sadat.

The Directors’ Fortnight runs from 15-25 May.

Directors’ Fortnight lineup

Alice and the Mayor (dir Nicolas Pariser)
And Then We Danced (dir Levan Akin)
Blow It to Bits (dir Lech Kowalski)
Deerskin (dir Quentin Dupieux) – opening film
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (dir Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää)
First Love (dir Takashi Miike)
An Easy Girl (dir Rebecca Zlotowski)
For the Money (dir Alejo Moguillansky)
Ghost Tropic (dir Bas Devos)
Give Me Liberty (dir Kirill Mikhanovsky)
The Halt (dir Lav Diaz)
The Lighthouse (dir Robert Eggers)
Lillian (dir Andreas Horwath)
Oleg (dir Juris Kursietis)
The Orphanage (dir Shahrbanoo Sadat)
Les Particules (dir Blaise Harrison)
Perdrix (dir Erwan Le Duc)
Sick, Sick, Sick (dir Alice Furtado)
Song Without a Name (dir Melina León)
Tlamess (dir Ala Eddine Slim)
To Live to Sing (dir Johnny Ma)
Wounds (dir Babak Anvari)
Yves (dir Benoît Forgeard) – closing film
Zombi Child (dir Bertrand Bonello)